Protective effects and functional mechanisms of Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 against oxidative stress

PLoS One. 2017 May 11;12(5):e0177106. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177106. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 (LG2055) is one of the probiotic lactic acid bacteria. Recently, we demonstrated that feeding with LG2055 extended the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans and that the prolongevity effect was dependent upon the regulation of oxidative stress response. In this study, we assessed whether LG2055 regulated the oxidative stress response of mammalian cells. In NIH-3T3 cells and primary mouse embryonic fibroblast cells, low cell proliferation rates and high reactive oxygen species levels were observed following paraquat treatment. LG2055 treatment suppressed these responses in paraquat-treated cells, indicating that LG2055 protected against oxidative stress in mammalian cells. The mRNA expression of oxidative stress-related genes, total nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) protein levels, and the nuclear translocation of Nrf2 were increased by LG2055 treatment. These results suggested that the Nrf2-antioxidant response element (ARE) signaling pathway was activated by LG2055. Furthermore, c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) was activated by LG2055 treatment and the inhibition of JNK suppressed the activation of the Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway in LG2055-treated cells. Together, these findings suggest that LG2055 activated the Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway by JNK activation, thus strengthening the defense system against oxidative stress in mammalian cells.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antioxidant Response Elements
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Fibroblasts / cytology
  • Fibroblasts / metabolism*
  • Fibroblasts / microbiology*
  • JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / metabolism
  • Lactobacillus gasseri / metabolism*
  • MAP Kinase Signaling System
  • Mice
  • NF-E2-Related Factor 2 / genetics
  • NF-E2-Related Factor 2 / metabolism
  • NIH 3T3 Cells
  • Oxidative Stress*
  • Probiotics / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction

Substances

  • NF-E2-Related Factor 2
  • Nfe2l2 protein, mouse
  • JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases

Grants and funding

This study was funded by Megmilk Snow Brand Co., Ltd. The funder provided support in the form of salaries for Eiji Kobatake and Takahiro Seki, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific role of this author is articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.